Bringing the Smart Grid Standards to Your Products.

Successful implementation of the Smart Grid will require communication to the home and between a variety consumer products. These products must be able to respond to changes in grid conditions such as energy prices, critical peaks, and other curtailment events.

Utilities and service providers are deploying a variety of communication standards and technologies today. Smart Grid information may reach the home through diverse means (e.g. AMI system, cellular, FM radio, Internet, paging, power-line carrier, etc), each being optimal under different circumstances. Within the home, these signals may be received directly by individual end devices, or may pass through an energy management system or gateway. It becomes very challenging for manufacturers to offer products supporting so many different protocols and standards.

The term USNAP is an acronym for Universal Smart Network Access Port, a simple, cost effective, solution that enables any HAN (Home Area Network) or DR (Demand Response) standard, present and future, to communicate with utility systems, energy gateways or other devices within the home. By providing industry with a protocol independent modular communication interface (MCI), it is possible for manufacturers to produce intelligent and energy aware consumer products that are able to interact with each other as well as the Smart Grid.

The Benefits of Membership

Members of the USNAP Alliance can actively influence the adoption of the modular communication interface. Whether Utilities, Manufacturers, or Regulators, all involved organizations can participate in requirements setting and implementation. Members of the Alliance are also able to certify USNAP products.

What is the CEA-2045 Standard?

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has worked together with USNAP Members and other industry stakeholders to create a new Modular Communications Interface. This new interface combines the previous USNAP standard and the EPRI AC driven version together with additional improvements.